NAB Announces Winners Of International Broadcasting Excellence Award

The Slovak Republic's Rádio Expres and Romania's PRO TV will receive this year's NAB International Broadcasting Excellence Award at the NAB Show All-Industry Opening Keynote, sponsored by Accenture on Monday, April 20.
The awards recognise international broadcasters who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and uniqueness in successfully serving their audience through broadcast innovation or service to their community.
Bratislava's Rádio Expres informed their community about the Slovak Republic adoption procedures through radio broadcasts and investigative reporting. Despite the large number of pre-screened families waiting to adopt a child, hundreds of orphans were left in state care because nursing homes failed to effectively carry out steps in the adoption process.
In 2008, close to one million Slovaks tuned in to hear Rádio Expres report on the situation. Rádio Expres generated more coverage on this issue by convincing a member of the Social Parliamentary Committee to make a public investigation into nursing homes. Additionally, an employee at Rádio Expres spearheaded a petition that was later signed by thousands of Slovaks, leading to the creation of new legislation that improved the adoption process of Slovak children under state care.
PRO TV, Romania's first private TV station, developed four major social campaigns in the past two years. The campaigns contributed to Romania's 50 percent increase in organ donation ("There's life after death") and addressed the ecological consequences of land stripping ("Romania, the big land clearing"). Additionally, PRO TV organised "STOP torturing the animals". a campaign initiated by PRO T anchors and hosts that facilitated the development and passage of The Animal Protection Law in 2008.
PRO TV's other initiative , "Any idea what your kid is doing right now", led to new legislation regarding the protection of abandoned children in Romania. For their efforts and news coverage on this issue, PRO TV received the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' International Emmy Award for News and Current Affairs, the first News Emmy ever for Romania and Eastern Europe.
Established in 1995, the NAB International Broadcasting Excellence Award is recognised worldwide as one of the premier awards in the broadcasting industry.
The NAB Show will take place between April 18-23, 2009 in Las Vegas (exhibits open April 20). Further details are available at: www.nabshow.com.
(KMcA/BMcC)